030612 Chicago Maroon

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TUESDAY • MARCH 6, 2012

ISSUE 32 • VOLUME 123

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SINCE 1892

CHICAGOMAROON.COM

How sweet it is! Maroons sneak into round of sixteen Humans, zombies under fire after Nerf shootout in Harper Ankit Jain News Staff During this year’s fight against an undead apocalypse, the popular Humans vs. Zombies game ran afoul of administrators and the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD). In one incident, administrators were shocked to discover scuffed floors and broken furniture after the February 25

“Nerf war� component of the game, in which Harper Library became a temporary battleground for roughly 50 students. Administrators also alleged that students attempted to break into deans’ offices on the second floor, an accusation that the group denies. The day before, a participant who was inside the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) with his Nerf gun ZOMBIES continued on page 4

Logan to stage student shows in preview Marina Fang News Staff

Fourth-year Bryanne Halfhill drives to the basket during the women’s basketball team’s 56-52 NCAA second-round victory over University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Saturday evening at the Ratner Athletics Center. DARREN LEOW | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Mahmoud Bahrani Senior Editor In a back-and-forth affair that head coach Aaron Roussell called a “heart stopper,� the Maroons squeaked past #18 UW– Eau Claire by a score of 56–52 in front of hordes of screaming fans in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday. With the win, Chicago advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the third year in a row, and will play Calvin

thing to do with Eau Claire’s center, 6’5� senior Ellen Plendl, whose height bothered Chicago down low throughout the night. “We couldn’t buy a bucket in the beginning,� Roussell said. “I think our kids were thinking and looking for [Plendl]. That’s what 6’5� does.� The Maroons regained their composure after the bucket from Meghan Herrick, and four quick points from second-year guard

on Friday for the right to play either St. Thomas or Tufts the following evening. Chicago started off on their back foot, as the Blugolds got off to a quick 8–0 lead, fueled by back-to-back off-balance jumpers from senior guard Nicole Christianson and junior forward Sarah Bingea. A lay-up from fourthyear forward Meghan Herrick five minutes in finally stemmed the bleeding. The early struggles offensively may have had some-

SPORTS continued on page 10

The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts is preparing to launch a series of student-centric exhibitions this spring in anticipation of its opening this October, offering graduating students a chance to showcase their work in the new space before departing campus in June. “There is nothing soft about the opening,� said Heidi Coleman, director of undergraduate studies for TAPS and University Theater (UT), one of many student groups slated for performances at the Logan Center beginning March 26. Arts Apocalypse, a personal vision of Coleman’s and fourth-year Andrew Cutler’s, will premier at the Logan Center May 12. The show will unite artists and arts groups for a wide-ranging exhibit featuring work entirely by U of C students. “We will be hitting the ground running,� Coleman said. UT and TAPS will collaborate on the event, which Cutler hopes will attract as many as 50 student groups. So far, he has recruited 38 par-

ticipants, representing a myriad of artistic mediums and interests. Cutler says Arts Apocalypse will be “unique for its variety and scale.� “There will be so many different people doing their artistic thing—so far we have ideas ranging from a fight choreography installation to circus performance in the courtyard to paintings to image projection to live music,� he said. Aside from Arts Apocalypse, the preview period’s events will include talks by artists and scholars, as well as open houses for U of C affiliates and community members. UT will also perform all of its spring quarter shows at Logan, Coleman said, including the premiere of Chicago playwright Mickle Maher’s adaptation of An Actor Prepares and Shakespeare troupe The Dean’s Men production of Cymbeline in Logan Courtyard. Overall, the series is valuable promotional work for the Logan Center’s directors. “The preview period is an opportunity for faculty, students, and our neighbors LOGAN continued on page 4

Visting Kenwood, Pelosi stumps for Jackson re-election bid Linda Qiu Associate News Editor House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi officially endorsed Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. for reelection Saturday morning at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition (RPC) headquarters in Kenwood. Pelosi was featured as a guest at RPC’s Saturday Morning Forum, a weekly televised political program hosted by the congressman’s father and former civil rights leader, Reverend Jesse Jackson. The congressman was in attendance as Pelosi gave her views on the economy, education, and healthcare. Jackson, who has represented Illinois’s 2nd congressional district since 1995, has also received endorsements from President Barack Obama and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The former speaker, however, is the highest ranking Democrat to appear in public with him. “Thank you for your strong leadership in the Congress of the United States,� Pelosi said, “That’s why I’m here today, to endorse Jesse

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Jackson, Jr. for reelection.� Noting his record in the 2nd district and the capitol, Pelosi said that Jackson “deserves reelection.� “He may be ‘Jr.’ in terms of his title within his family, but he’s very senior in the manner of respect he commands in the Congress of the United States,� she said. The representative’s accomplishments, according to Pelosi, are evident in $940 million worth of projects to create jobs, improve transportation, and expand healthcare for his constituents. Jackson’s senior position on the House Appropriations Committee also serves his district and state well, she said. “I remember when he came to Congress with a great name, in the great tradition of his parents, but he came and made his own mark. He has acted upon his belief for a more perfect union for America.� Former 11th District Representative Debbie Halverson is challenging the incumbent Jackson, who has faced controversy for alleged involvement with former governor Rod Blagojevich’s attempt to sell Barack Obama’s senate seat.

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announces her endorsement of incumbent Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters. LINDA QIU | THE CHICAGO MAROON

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | March 6, 2012

SHCS back to taking last-minute calls

Student TV station among Uncommon winners

Ben Pokross Senior News Staff

Crystal Tsoi Associate News Editor

After the sudden departure in January of a physician left the Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) unable to take patients on immediate short notice, recent organizational changes aim to make the office’s response to student need timelier and friendlier. SHCS has hired a locum tenens, or placeholder, physician to replace the one who left Student Health Services (SHS), so the service can once again keep appointments made within 24 hours, according to SHCS Director Alex Lickerman. The 24-hour guarantee was instituted at the beginning of the year, but was put on hold once the service became short-staffed. The locum tenens physician will temporarily fulfill the duties of a permanent physician, who has been hired and is anticipated to start in two or three months, according to Lickerman. Although Lickerman said in January that he had hoped to resolve the problem by the middle of winter quarter, the locum tenens

Forever alone: a new health hazard? James Del Vesco News Staff Perhaps as a cautionary tale to the selfproclaimed academic hermits at the U of C, researchers at the University have found that loneliness is bad for your health. In a study led by Director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience John Cacioppo, a positive correlation was found between people’s level of loneliness and their blood pressure. The study, which began in 2002, asked respondents aged 50-68 about their social life, then ranked individuals based on their cumulative survey scores on a scale from 20 to 80, with 80 being the most lonely. “There are people very happy being alone, and there are people who can be around others and feel very lonely,” said Associate Director of the Social Neuroscience Laboratory Louise Hawkley, who also worked on the study with Cacioppo. “It’s not whether you’re alone, it’s how you feel about the quality of relationships you have with other people,” she said. The research found that people who were lonely not only exhibited the highest blood pressure at the onset of the study, but also the greatest increase in blood pressure over the next 10 years. Blood pressure levels were on average 14 millimeters higher for those who exhibited higher levels of loneliness. In addition to higher risk for hypertension, loneliness also affects other aspects of body physiolog y—namely, sleeping and immune response—the study found. “Loneliness is a good thing,” Hawkley said. “It’s normal for people to want to feel connected to those around them. We’re a social species, we wouldn’t survive without other people, so we need that little trigger, that loneliness feeling, to get us out there and reconnect.” However, this trigger proves detrimental when feelings of loneliness “stick around.” Consequently, researchers are seeking ways for people to overcome loneliness. “You have to find the right kind of people. You have to find people with like interests for you to feel like you can really connect,” Hawkley said.

physician only started work in the middle of eighth week. “What slowed things down was the credentialing process,” Lickerman said, adding that the physician was granted an expedited hearing. Lickerman also highlighted the hiring this quarter of two managerial staff members, which will give him a freer hand in shaping the policy governing the SHCS’s future. Lori Ellerman, new operations manager, and Melva Hardy, new executive administrator, hope to make the most of SHS’s limited space—a complaint that has persisted since campus health services were reorganized last October. The SHS was created then out of the former Primary Care Services and put under the umbrella of the new SHCS. “I do see that there’s some room for improvement, just being here six weeks,” Ellerman said, explaining that the immediate impact of the staff additions will be to cut wait times for students trying to reach the services by phone. “I think that this will help with people getting a friendly response,” she said.

Thirty-eight projects were deemed novel, exciting, or downright weird enough to snatch a piece of the annual $75,000 Uncommon Fund this year. The winners, announced last night, ranged from a drive to combat sex trafficking in Cambodia to a bid to fry the world’s longest churro. University of Chicago Student-Run Television (UCTV), which was recently granted RSO status, received the most funding with $6,414.89 with University of Chicago Solar Car close behind with $5,000. First-year Hunter Owens and third-years Peter Berkowitz and Dexter O’Connell proposed their Late-Night Taco Truck/Horchateria to satiate the appetites of students frustrated with Hyde Park’s limited late-night dining options. UCTV will look toward ORCSA for additional funding. Second-year Alex Allen, who helped craft the UCTV proposal, said that the Fund succeeded in its goal of giving “as much money to as many people as possible,” to the benefit of the student body. “The process was absolutely fair,” he said. Although their project received $3,316.79 in

Uncommon Funding, Owens and his teammates felt that the Uncommon Board’s decision to fund practically half of their project’s most conservative budget estimate hindered them from fully realizing their vision. “It can be a taco bike,” Owens joked. “We’re glad to receive the funding but that was not exactly what we needed. We hope the money can keep the dream alive.” Late-Night Taco Truck will look towards other on-campus funds to supplement the amount they were allotted from the Uncommon Board. First-years Orly Farber and Olivia Myszkowski’s project, Speakeasy for Change: Combating Sex Trafficking in Cambodia, received $3,076.34. Despite a “rigorous application process,” both Farber and Myszkowski thought the Board’s process for awarding funds was even-handed. This year’s process integrated an online voting component during the second round to gauge student support of each project. Though the results did not determine the board’s decision, these results were taken into consideration during Sunday’s deliberation process. UCTV garnered 425 votes, and the project Greeks Go Green finished second with 402 votes. Both projects received funding; Maroon Heritage Apparel, in third place with 340 votes, did not.

The Oriental Institute Members’ Lecture Series Presents:

Professor Pascal Butterlin Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonee

Seventy-Five Years of Excavation at Tell Hariri-Mari, Syria Wednesday ∙ March 7 Breasted Hall ∙ 7:00PM The Oriental Institute 1155 East 58th Street Free and Open to the Public Reception to Follow The Members’ Lecture Series is made possible by the generous support of Oriental Institute Members

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | NEWS | March 6, 2012

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RSO will pay for damage to Harper floors ZOMBIES continued from front

was stopped by a UCPD officer and questioned, leading UCPD to reach out to the game’s organizers about gun safety. Humans vs. Zombies is put on twice a year by the Zombie Readiness Task Force (ZRTF), an RSO. All players, except for one “original zombie,” start out as humans, and the point is to stave off “infection” for as long as possible. The “Nerf war,” is a regular part of Humans vs. Zombies. All of Harper is made available to players, who book the space through the Office of the Reynolds Club and Student Activities according to specific University rules. Most pertinently, RSOs which book University buildings are responsible for covering any damage. Floors were scuffed and furniture was broken when students dragged tables and chairs out of classrooms and flipped them onto their sides to form barricades.

Administrators told organizers that they were reconsidering letting the group book Harper in the future. The RSO also has agreed to pay for the damage it caused. In a statement, ZRTF took responsibility for the damage. The group declined to comment on how much the repairs will cost or how the RSO plans to pay for them. ZRTF organizer and secondyear Jim Duehr was stopped and questioned the morning of February 24, when he was in the UCMC with his Nerf gun for an appointment. After consulting his superiors, the officer took down Duehr’s information and released him. “He thought that the situation was kind of hilarious,” Duehr said. The UCPD officer was unable to be reached for comment. Afterwards, the UCPD contacted the group with safety concerns about the number of students wielding

toy guns on campus. In response, ZRTF has instituted a rule requiring that guns be in highly visible, neon colors, according to second-year and ZRTF board-member Christopher Dewing. “Just as individual members of the University community are responsible for their actions, RSOs as groups have responsibility for their collective actions and the condition of campus spaces they use,” Assistant Vice President for Campus Life Eleanor Daugherty said in an e-mail. ZRTF administrator second-year Edward Warden hopes that the RSO can put the incidents behind it. “We want this game to be purely fun and entertaining and enjoyable for everybody involved,” he said. “The last thing we’re seeking to do is put ourselves in a situation where we’re at odds with anybody.”

“Arts Apocalypse” will put student stamp on Logan LOGAN continued from front

to get a first look at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. It is important to us that our students have a chance to create and learn in the Logan Center before they graduate in the spring,” said Bill Michel (A.B. ’92, M.B.A.

’08), the Logan Center’s executive director. Last spring, Michel said that the Logan Center will host 90 percent of all visual arts and theater on campus, and provide a way for artists to collaborate. Cutler envisions Arts Apoc-

alypse as a vehicle for direct student involvement in Logan’s opening. “It’s born chiefly of a desire to claim Logan for students— to metaphorically break a glass against the wall and claim the building as our own.”

Visiting ambassador touts a changed Colombia Celia Bever News Staff Gabriel Silva, Colombian ambassador to the United States, spoke about Colombia’s rapid economic development over the past decade and its increased role in global affairs at a talk at the Booth School yesterday morning. “The Colombia I’m going to talk about is a different Colombia...it’s a new Colombia that has changed dramatically,” Silva said. He described the image of Colombia as a haven for organized crime as a “Hollywood stereotype.” Silva discussed the growth of Colombia’s economy, noting that in 2010, Colombia’s gross domestic product (GDP) was $437 billion, larger than those of Belgium and Sweden. Over the last decade, Colombia’s percapita GDP has increased by 73 percent, leading the World Bank to declare Colombia an “Upper Middle Income” country. Colombia has also limited inflation to what Silva called “developed country levels,” in contrast to the rampant inflation plaguing some of the country’s neighbors. Silva credited much of this growth to the country’s improved security. He noted that from 2002 to 2011 Colombia’s homicide rate fell by 49 percent, making it lower than that of Washington D.C., and that the kidnapping rate dropped by 89 percent. The

Colombian Ambassador to the United States and former Defense Minister, Gabriel Silva Luján, talks Monday in the Charles M. Harper Center. SYDNEY COMBS | THE CHICAGO MAROON

amount of coca plant, a crucial component of cocaine, grown in Colombia also has decreased over the last decade. Silva cited Colombia’s increasing diplomatic role in global affairs as proof of its emergence on the world stage. “When you sign a free trade agreement, it’s a political statement of trust in a country,” he said, pointing out that Colombia has Free Trade Agreements with 13 countries and recently signed one with the United States. “We believe trade is a critical force behind prosperity and growth.” One question from the audience was about a proposal by Guatemalan President Otto

Perez Molina to legalize all drugs. “For Colombia, the issue of drugs goes beyond public health issues. Illegal drugs are the livelihood of organized crime,” Silva said. “And in that sense they become a threat to national security. You cannot separate drugs in Colombia from this threat.” Silva predicted that the United States would be the first country to legalize marijuana over the next few years, and that his country should have a role in any legalization efforts. “Should we have a say in that? I think so,” he said. The talk was hosted by the Latin American Business Group, a student organization at Booth.

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VIEWPOINTS

Editorial & Op-Ed MARCH 6, 2012

Residence evil The University must move forward quickly with plans to restore and replace Pierce The student newspaper of the University of Chicago since 1892 ADAM JANOFSKY Editor-in-Chief CAMILLE VAN HORNE Managing Editor MAHMOUD BAHRANI Senior Editor JONATHAN LAI News Editor HARUNOBU CORYNE News Editor SAM LEVINE News Editor EMILY WANG Viewpoints Editor CHARNA ALBERT Arts Editor DANIEL LEWIS Sports Editor VICENTE FERNANDEZ Sports Editor DOUGLAS EVERSON, JR Head Designer KEVIN WANG Web Editor ALICE BLACKWOOD Head Copy Editor DON HO Head Copy Editor GABE VALLEY Head Copy Editor DARREN LEOW Photo Editor JAMIE MANLEY Photo Editor REBECCA GUTERMAN Assoc. News Editor LINDA QIU Assoc. News Editor CRYSTAL TSOI Assoc. News Editor GIOVANNI WROBEL Assoc. News Editor

Certain things are synonymous with the U of C: the Core curriculum, academic rigor, and, for the roughly 250 students who reside in Pierce Tower, exploding toilets. Plumbing issues in Pierce, such as a lack of hot water and even complete water outages, have persisted throughout the year and resurfaced last week. In response, administrators have been meeting with Pierce residents to reassure students that the University is committed to listening to and addressing resident concerns. Although administrators should be applauded for these communication efforts, the University must work quickly to develop and implement a long-term solution to these pressing residential issues while ensuring that Pierce residents are adequately provided for in the short-term. The Maroon reported Friday that Pierce residents were promised

a litany of renovations to be made over spring break, in addition to the requisite summertime plumbing fixes. These accessory improvements—including fresh paint jobs and carpeting in common areas—must be a refreshing prospect for residents of the aging building. However, student committees and the administrators working with them should not become selfcongratulatory about the headway they’ve made. The University should be held accountable for its negligence and must do all it can to ensure that such problems do not occur again in other dorms. The issues that have plagued Pierce this year should not have occurred in the first place, and students and administrators now face the task of navigating a difficult transitional period from Pierce to new housing developments. The University should therefore view this situation as an opportunity to be open about Pierce’s immediate

future. Though long-mooted plans for a new dorm have been confirmed, the University has never laid out a clear timetable for its construction or for Pierce’s closure. With this new wave of difficulties, however, it has become clear that Pierce’s time is coming to an end. The University should therefore make plans for a new dorm without delay, and be as transparent as possible throughout this process so that a prolonged closure does not burden Pierce residents with any further disturbances. With those goals in mind, the University should continue to foster the positive aspects of its efforts thus far. Some of the most promising steps administrators took last week were guaranteeing that students have a voice in proceedings and will remain abreast of progress. Along these lines, administrators should keep students informed over the

summer about Pierce’s substantial renovations and its timetable for new housing. These efforts would demonstrate that the University is serious about rectifying its mistakes while taking advantage of increased dialogue to build a better future. The U of C places a large emphasis on the house system and its professed benefits for undergraduates. Unfortunately, as a result of the Pierce plumbing fiasco, housing has become a negative experience for a large number of students. Going forward, it is imperative that the University not only focus on remedying the most serious issues that have dogged Pierce, but also reassure students that it is dedicated to preserving the strength of housing after Pierce.

The Editorial Board consists of the Editor-in-Chief, Viewpoints Editors, and an additional Editorial Board member.

AJAY BATRA Assoc. Viewpoints Editor DAVID KANER Assoc. Viewpoints Editor TOMI OBARO Assoc. Arts Editor MATTHEW SCHAEFER Assoc. Sports Editor SYDNEY COMBS Assoc. Photo Editor TIFFANY TAN Assoc. Photo Editor

Intervening obstacles The situation in Syria is too volatile to warrant U.S. or coalition intervention

TYRONALD JORDAN Business Manager VIVIAN HUA Undergraduate Business Executive VINCENT MCGILL Delivery Coordinator HAYLEY LAMBERSON Ed. Board Member HYEONG-SUN CHO Designer SONIA DHAWAN Designer ALYSSA LAWTHER Designer SARAH LI Designer AUTUMN NI Designer AMITA PRABHU Designer BELLA WU Designer

By Ajay Ravichandran Viewpoints Columnist

KELSIE ANDERSON Copy Editor CATIE ARBONA Copy Editor AMISHI BAJAJ Copy Editor JANE BARTMAN Copy Editor MARTIA BRADLEY Copy Editor ELIZABETH BYNUM Copy Editor ALAN HASSLER Copy Editor NISHANTH IYENGAR Copy Editor MICHELLE LEE Copy Editor KATIE MOCK Copy Editor JEN XIA Copy Editor

Over the past several weeks, the violence and unrest that have roiled Syria since the wave of prodemocracy protests—the Arab Spring—arrived about a year ago has acquired a new intensity. Many opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s autocratic regime have responded to the series of brutal crackdowns on peaceful

demonstrations by taking up arms; the incipient civil war that has resulted has only added to the uprising’s already gruesome body count (a United Nations official recently estimated that more than 7,500 people have died since it began). It is understandable, then, that many, including Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, are now arguing that the international community should supply the rebels with weapons in order to bring the ongoing suffering and the oppressive regime behind it to an end. However, such a move, whether undertaken by the United States or a larger coalition, would likely be ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. The most obvious difficulty that any effort to arm the Syrian

rebels would face is the lack of an organized group of rebels to receive the weapons. The Syrian National Council, a group of exiled dissidents, has represented the opposition at most of the international summits on the crisis, but it is riven by internal disputes (including a divide between secularists and Islamists) and resented by activists on the ground who think its members are out of touch with the misery of ordinary Syrians. Furthermore, even the Free Syrian Army, the armed rebels’ main organization, is essentially an umbrella group of local militias with few ties to one another. Because the opposition is so fragmented, any attempt to arm it would likely be a waste of resources and could easily do real harm. A

loose network of fighters, without a clear chain of command or political leaders who can set strategic goals, is unlikely to succeed against an organized military even with advanced weaponry; thus, a measure like this would probably just postpone the rebels’ eventual defeat while consuming time and energy that could be invested in other approaches to stopping the violence or used to address more tractable problems. And if the rebels were to win, it is far from obvious that bands of armed men—who belong to rival political factions and are accountable to no one—would be able to replace the Assad regime’s tyranny with a functioning state, let alone a liberal democracy. The fate of Afghanistan, where AmericanSYRIA continued on page 6

ESTHER YU Copy Editor BEN ZIGTERMAN Copy Editor

Intellectual public service Public intellectuals could provide the kind of thoughtful leadership that America is missing

The Chicago Maroon is published twice weekly during autumn, winter, and spring quarters Circulation: 5,500. The opinions expressed in the Viewpoints section are not necessarily those of the Maroon. © 2012 The Chicago Maroon, Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 Editor-in-Chief Phone: 773.834.1611 Newsroom Phone: 773.702.1403 Business Phone: 773.702.9555 Fax: 773.702.3032 CONTACT News: News@ChicagoMaroon.com Viewpoints: Viewpoints@ChicagoMaroon.com Arts: Arts@ChicagoMaroon.com Sports: Sports@ChicagoMaroon.com Photography: Photo@ChicagoMaroon.com Design: Douglas@ChicagoMaroon.com Copy: CopyEditors@ChicagoMaroon.com Advertising: Ads@ChicagoMaroon.com

By Colin Bradley Viewpoints Columnist One of my favorite Woody Allen lines comes from Annie Hall, when, while walking with his second wife through a throng of the who’s who of New York academia, he quips: “I heard that commentary and dissent had merged and formed dysentery.” At the risk of reading too far into ironic repartee, I have to wonder what exactly he meant by “dissent.” I am

tempted to believe that the butt of the joke (excuse me) was the commentary, and not the dissent; it was what he calls later in that same scene “fake insights.” I cannot believe that Allen—coming from that community of “left-wing, Jewish, communist, homosexual pornographers” that are New Yorkers— would take any issue with the Václav Havels of the world. Yet after all, Havel, more than almost anyone else, best exemplified what we could call, without a negative judgment, dysentery. It is actually this dysentery that produces some of the most remarkable moments in human history. I guess the trick is just keeping it away from where we eat. Over the last several months we have witnessed the deaths of some of the world’s most influential dysenterists: Havel, Christopher Hitchens, and Andrew Breitbart (though Breitbart

is hardly a shoo-in to this category). While these people certainly do not offer a singular worldview, they are all at least united in their commitment to espousing to the masses their unorthodox yet usually reasonable and intellectually honest ideas. They are all, really, public intellectuals. Of course, it is difficult to draw the line between a public intellectual and an academic (and between those two and a person who is a real threat to society, for that matter). It’s easy enough to say that the ivory tower academics, useful though they may be in their own respect, are decidedly lacking in the “public” element of the definition: It seems that to qualify these days as a public intellectual you must make at least one appearance on either The Daily Show or Real Time with Bill Maher. While an academic typically

remains dedicated to her own area of expertise, a public intellectual expands this area by synthesizing divergent fields of knowledge and thus represents the “moral conscience of their age,” as Sartre famously put it. But where do we put people like Slavoj Žižek? Cornel West? Both are certainly public enough, but there is a delicate balance between being public and being legitimate—we cannot ignore the ever-present specter of opportunism that beckons constantly to people in their positions. The New Republic’s Leon Wieseltier fairly convincingly disposes of West’s “marriage of populism and esotericism,” and reduces his ultimate message to calling for “a better world.” While his intentions engender sympathy, he simply does not have the intellectual respect necessary to earn DYSENTERY continued on page 6

THE CHICAGO MAROON | VIEWPOINTS | March 6, 2012

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“The best we can do is to stay out of the way” SYRIA continued from page 5 backed warlords with little in the way of shared goals overthrew a dictator in the 1980s and proceeded to plunge their nation into a decades-long civil war, suggests that this worry is worth taking seriously. Even if we assume that the overthrow of the current Syrian government is a desirable goal, giving those rebels arms could easily reduce their chances of success. Assad’s most effective method of rallying support so far has been claiming that his opponents are tools of a foreign conspiracy; these accusations would only seem more credible if foreign governments actually began giving those opponents weapons. If the weapons come from the nations whose politicians have already expressed support for arming the opposition (the United States and Sunni Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar), Syria’s major-power backer, Iran (which is currently contending with the country for supremacy in the Middle East) would likely respond in a way that could turn the Syrian uprising into a proxy war between the two. It seems unlikely that a conflict

driven by the geopolitical concerns of foreign powers would do much to satisfy the desire for freedom that motivates many in the opposition. At this point, a critic might note that I have attacked a proposal for relieving the Syrian people’s suffering without offering one of my own. She might argue that while we would clearly be taking a serious risk by arming the opposition, we must do something to solve the problem, and that the contempt the Assad regime has shown for previous attempts at diplomatic solutions means that supporting the rebels is the only option. However, this notion derives from the appealing but ultimately false assumption that all problems are within our power to solve. Human beings are notoriously resistant, even to the efforts of those who know them best—it would be quite a feat for outsiders to even understand a phenomenon as complex as the Syrian crisis, let alone to solve it. Sometimes the best we can do is to stay out of the way. Ajay Ravichandran is a fourth-year in the College majoring in philosophy.

America would benefit from its own Havel DYSENTERY continued from page 5 that hallowed title. Žižek may have a more compelling case but, especially in light of his reaction to the Occupy Wall Street movement, he seems also to be missing something. In an op-ed in The New York Times last October after Žižek’s semi-famous speech to Occupiers in Zuccotti Park, the U of C’s own Bernard Harcourt accused him of clinging to “worn-out ideologies rooted in the Cold War.” Harcourt seems to be onto something: Žižek can hardly be considered the moral conscience of his age when he attempts to co-opt a leaderless movement and calls for “a strong body able to reach quick decisions and to implement them with all necessary harshness.” “But what do we need public intellectuals for anyway?” you may ask. “We have plenty of private intellectuals, and this idea of a universalizing, moral conscience does seem a bit dangerous after all.” For one, public intellectuals can set the agenda and crusade. This role is obviously important under totalitarian rule; I need only point to Václav Havel in Communist Czechoslovakia. Yet it is still important under democratic regimes. Public intellectuals, much more so than elected representatives, are in a better position to identify issues that really matter to the public. Elected politicians are ultimately held accountable by that same public, but much more often by the collective capital they need to run for office (especially in a post–Citizens United America—just ask Sheldon Adelson). The public intellectual enjoys her influence almost exclusively by the will of the public, and so it is to them that she is especially responsible. Furthermore, a public intellectual does not make issues by carpet bombing the airwaves, but rather identifies them by having a finger on the public pulse. Public intellectuals are public intellectuals because they are trusted. Politicians? See Congress’s approval ratings. Television hosts? See Glenn Beck. It’s too easy to fault Obama for a lack of leadership

(trust me, I’ve done it), but it is important to keep in mind the difficulty for any elected official to lead effectively in the absence of a universally applicable rallying point—immediately after 9/11, even Bush was a revered leader. The various influences exerted on him at all times on almost all issues are inconceivably complicated; on the other hand, a public intellectual has the luxury of devoting herself to an issue from as pure and uncomplicated a starting point as possible. Especially as campaign finance reform is receding rapidly as an issue and the disconnect between the elected and electorate widens, leadership from public intellectuals is absolutely vital to the health of our national discourse and for the progressive agenda. That sort of disinterested leadership is what this country truly needs. Unfortunately, it seems like anyone with the credentials to be a public intellectual in America probably doesn’t want to be part of a club that would have her as a member. As for Noam Chomsky? Well, la-di-da.

Food. Life. Balance.

Colin Bradley is a second-year in the College majoring in Law, Letters, and Society.

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All of the (neon) lights: Portrait of ’80s reveals turbulence of a decade Anna Hill Arts Contributor Amid the clamor of constant-loop hip-hop videos and live-streaming television ads, spectators at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago are blasted with a neon blur of crack cocaine vials, disfigured stuffed animals, and rat wallpaper. The source of the sensory overload? The exhibition This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, which explores the turbulence of the years 1979 to 1992, a period marked by political upheaval, massive technological growth, a rise in the rhetoric of gay liberation, and the emergence of mass media.

This Will Have Been: Art, Love, and Politics in the 1980s Museum of Contemporary Art Through June 3

Organized by Helen Molesworth, chief curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the exhibition includes over a hundred individual pieces and is divided into four themes, “Democracy,” “Gender Trouble,” “Desire and Longing,” and “The End is Near.” Each explores how social change in the 1980s affected art’s production and perception. “Democracy” opens with an oil painting of Ronald Reagan by German artist Hans Haacke. On the opposite wall, connected to the portrait by a strip of red carpet, a photograph of an anti-nuclear protest draws attention to the political tensions of the time and the incongruity of classical and modern forms of art that became clear as mass-produced images gained sway. Among an assembly of erotic, fleshy shapes hang visions of a blondhaired, blue-eyed Reverend Jesse Jackson. Neon signs around the gallery read: “IT ALL HAS TO BURN, IT’S GOING TO BLAZE. IT IS FILTHY AND CAN’T BE SAVED.” “KISSING DOESN’T KILL,” and“NO TO NUCLEAR MADNESS.” “Gender Trouble” gets its name from Judith Butler, who championed the idea that “gender” is not based on biological differences but rather mental consideration. It addresses issues that resulted

from the 1970s feminist movement by manipulating photography and film. Artists like Carroll Dunham challenge the idea of “woman” with works that conflate masculine and feminine attributes, resulting in unclassifiable entities whose aggressive ambiguity targeted contemporary notions. The next several galleries bombard visitors with a slew of brand logos, metal rabbits, plush pumpkins, and cigarette cartons, as the exhibition delves into “Desire and Longing.” In “Untitled (Buffalo),” a photograph of a display in the National History Museum in Washington, D.C. and one of the exhibition’s most striking pieces, David Wojnarowicz likens the state-sponsored purging of buffalo in the nineteenth century to the state’s neglect of the AIDS crisis. Wojnarowicz also questions ideas about art in a time of mass reproduction. “The End is Near” explores the feeling of closure that pervaded social life in the 1980s. Many feared that the rise of technolog y would eliminate the need for human-made art; they thought the government’s attacks on overtly sexual art marked the end of the cultural progress made during the 1960s. The section also explores the crippling effects of the AIDS epidemic. Wallpaper that replaces Robert Indiana’s famous red “LOVE” logo with a forceful, almost painful repetition of “AIDS” covers a wall and echoes with the sounds from a nearby viewing room, where a video portrays AIDS victims discussing their impending deaths. This Will Have Been portrays a more fraught decade than the one we imagine as we gear up for ’80s-themed parties, clad in legwarmers and sweatbands, the one we imagine as we giggle about David Bowie, Pac-Man, and clunky cell phones. The exhibition portrays a dense, arresting view of a time when the development of new practices also marked the unwelcome end of old ones, an era characterized equally by death and growth. As visitors leave, they pass a video of young people freestyling and laughing together; only then do they realize that beneath the exhibition’s surface courses a current of hope. This Will Have Been: Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s is on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago through June 3.

Bottom: “We will no longer be seen and not heard,” by Barbara Kruger COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART

Top: “AIDS Wallpaper,” by General Idea COURTESY OF AA BRONSON

Theatre Zarko’s new production is thin on plot, thick on puppets Eliza Brown Arts Contributor Knowing only that Theatre Zarko’s He Who would feature a giant puppet baby, I arrived at Steppenwolf ’s Merle Reskin Garage Theatre with both a deep curiosity and limited expectations. How could this play possibly be anything other than some sort of surreal comedy? Fortunately, He Who is about much more than a giant puppet baby; this is clear in both its production and meaning. Theatre Zarko, headed by Michael Montenegro (writer and director of He Who), is more an organic collaboration between writer, actors, and audience than a traditional play. In a post-show talk-back, Montenegro informed the audience that the show’s content had changed based on the

response of audience members, and might continue to develop in the coming weeks. Ostensibly, the play depicts the struggle of three women as they attempt to take care of a loud, demanding baby. Like other experimental theater pieces, He Who is thin on plot. Plot, however, is hardly the point: Rather than tell a compelling story, Montenegro and the cast of He Who aim to make the audience think (and ponder, and leave the theater more confused than when they entered). The puppet baby is made of taupe canvas draped over metal wire and has a single light bulb for an eye and crossed wire as a mouth. For readers unfamiliar with the work of Theatre Zarko, the puppets are reminiscent of Tim Burton’s work. Puppeteers Noah Silver-Mathews and Katie

Jones add an extraordinary amount of life to their materials, and arouse the audience’s sympathy and fear for the strange creature through the slightest movements of their wrists. Dressed in matching canvas dresses and black wigs, three nameless women played by Nancy Andria, Karen Hoyer, and Laura Montenegro speak intermittently as a chorus. When speaking alone, the actresses never speak as individual characters with unique personalities but rather as one face of the three. The women begrudgingly begin to care for the baby by feeding it and helping it go to the bathroom. When the women aren’t caring for the baby, they play with two smaller male and female puppets, acting out what presumably is the story of lost love between them and

the baby’s father. In a scene that reoccurs several times throughout the play, an unsettling woman dressed in a red suit and with a mask-like painted face (Ellen O’Keefe) asks the women a series of mundane questions and torments them with increasing

He Who

Steppenwolf Garage Theatre Through April 8

pressure to answer her. The piece’s music oscillates between otherworldly noises and melodies that seem vaguely Eastern European, with instruments as varied as an accordion, base guitar, keyboard, trombone, djembe, slide flute, and more. Musicians Ben Goldberger

and Stephen Lieto moved to the center of the stage at the emotional climax of the play, erasing the line that separates the musicians’ performing space on the side from the main stage. The question of gender seems to play a prominent role in He Who, as the only speaking male character is the very demanding baby. Perhaps each woman on stage represents a different stage in one woman’s life, like Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, though it is just as likely that the women stand in for “every woman,” or even, “every person.” I saw the play as a commentary on gender and motherhood, though the actors and director suggested that this interpretation is not definitive. The interaction between the women and the baby ZARKO continued on page 9

THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | March 6, 2012

8

Entre who? French artist probes identity Alice Bucknell Arts Staff Stage masks, androg ynous clothing, and mime-like makeup are the defining trademarks of Claude Cahun’s self-portraits, though to cut her work down to mere description removes the serious undertones of what otherwise might seem like child’s play. As the title of the exhibit, Entre Nous, suggests, there is something at work beneath the surface, some powerful element at play between “us”—between artist and spectator. Cahun’s first retrospective exhibition in the country is laden with secrets and suggestions, and unsurprisingly so: The majority of her work remained unexhibited during her life, and for several decades following her death. Simply finding the exhibit acts as a challenge all on its own. Occupying the center of a room in the basement of the Art Institute, the exhibit boasts four panels placed adjacently to form a miniature gallery. Within is “Disavowals,” a so-called “antiautobiography” crafted by Cahun and her partner Marcel Moore. The text, a completed during the 1930s, is a hodgepodge of poems, letters, and allegories, and strays from the nature of traditional autobiographies. Rather than attempting a complete exploration of herself, the anti-autobiography projects outwards, aiming to push the limits of self-

reflection. Ten photo montages by Moore complement the work’s written portion. They use symbols of identity like hands, eyes, and mirrors. In “Disavowals,” Cahun vocalizes her desire to create art that will “shorten the leash between my mirror and my body.” The essence of Cahun’s writing spills out from its cubicle and spreads to the gallery’s four walls, which features Cahun’s self-portraits. Moving about the room in a clockwise fashion takes the viewer through two decades’ worth of Cahun’s creations: They begin in Paris in the 1920s and continue to include her isolated lifestyle on the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel. They end with her death in 1954. After meeting her partner Marcel Moore at 15, Cahun (born Lucy Schwob) moved to Paris and became a pioneer of the emerging surrealist movement. Her 1920s self-portraits depict her as model and soldier, nymph and mime, male and female. She is revealed in Baroque drama as a continuously evolving persona often clad in masks, mirrors, and other identity-challenging props. Her poses are unnerving, and she unsettlingly meets the viewer’s gaze. Despite this, there remains an element of masquerade that leaves the viewer mystified over Cahun’s true identity. In the early ’30s Cahun seems to have worked indoors, crawling among bureaus and kitchen

FREAKY FAST

DELIVERY!

counters to create constrained self-portraits that provoke viewer discomfort. The later ’30s and ’40s reveal a definitive break from interior confinements that may have been triggered by her relocation to the Isle of Jersey. She embraces beaches, cliffs, and natural vegetation, posing nude in twisting, serpentine positions that reveal the liberty of a secluded lifestyle.

Entre Nous: The Art of Claude Cahun Art Institute Through June 3

Her self-portraiture became less exclusive as Cahun’s own identity grew to encompass more than just the space her body occupied. In the late ’30s, Cahun began to use multiple exposures to create a single photograph from several different shots. A 1939 self-portrait depicts Cahun on a lush hill overtaken by flora, but a duplicate of the shot is inverted and placed over the original. Dark vegetation frames the page and two figures appear at the image’s center, challenging the idea of a single identity. “In Oceania” shows Cahun from below; a shot of the ocean is superimposed on the portrait to suggest that she is walking on the sea. As the exhibit comes to a close,

Claude Cahun depicts herself as a mime in “Self-Portrait.” COURTESY OF SOIZIC AUDOUARD

there are more portraits of Cahun and Moore, who walk their cats in one shot and resist arrest for their 1944 defiance against Nazi occupation in another. Their faces darkened by shadows, there exists a certain impenetrable dis-

tance “entre nous,” between the creator and the viewer. This gap, this disconnect, however insignificant in relation to our knowledge of Cahun’s life and art, is precisely the idea that Cahun’s work aims to address.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | ARTS | March 6, 2012

Play comments on gender, politics

9

Style

Chicago Manual of

by Jessen O’Brien

The rise and fall of waist and hem

Nancy Andria, Colleen Werle, and Karen Hoyer give birth to the next tyrannical politician. COURTESY OF RYAN BOURQUE

ZARKO continued from page 7 immediately made me think of the Freudian notion of motherhood, more specifically of the theories of Donald Winnicott and Melanie Klein. The women feel detached from their child, who offer them nothing in return, for their own nourishment and sexual fulfillment, aligning directly with these theorists’ view of motherhood. Montenegro explains that the baby for him represents the childish, needy political leader who demands the care of others but does not care for them in return. In this sense, the play

serves as a social commentary on tyrannical leaders. Theatre Zarko succeeds in creating a piece that is both thought-provoking and heartbreaking in terms of its theme and style. One rarely finds that combination of an emotive work and a social commentary, and rarer still does one find these qualities as told here through Latin chanting , masks, and puppets. I may have entered the theater thinking of a giant puppet baby, but I left wondering about the overwhelming social hierarchy in which we are all entangled.

The greatest fashion faux pas is taking your pants too seriously. It’s time to embrace the ridiculous, and examine a couple of absurd legwear trends from the past few decades: Where they came from, what they were like at the height of their popularity, and how we interpret them today. In the 1970s, the most absurd fashion must-have was bell-bottoms. The first mention of them dates back to 1813 naval uniforms, but in the mid1960s they became the emblem of hippies, and by the next decade they were mainstream. Celebrities like Jimi Hendrix and the cast of the Brady Bunch donned them. The free-flowing fit was supposed to signify the hippie lifestyle, and they were worn by both men and women, which made them an equalizing garment. Women would wear bell-bottoms with a tight top, while men might pair them with a suit jacket. Bell-bottoms are making a comeback in a less extreme incarnation. They re-emerged in the 1990s as flare jeans, with a tighter fit through the thighs and smaller bell at the bottom. They’re making another comeback, though now they’re loose through the knee with a more pronounced bell than flare jeans. They were recently featured in Derek Lam’s collections and worn by Nicole Richie. The ’80s was a decade of dance. Mass media was exploding, and

everyone was following the fashion trends of their icons more intensely than ever before. It was the era of Michael Jackson, of breakdancing and, naturally, of parachute pants. Leggings and leg warmers were “mega bulk�; spandex and bright colors were ace. The look was inspired by the 1983 movie Flashdance, about a parttime exotic dancer who wants to go to ballet school. Everyone wanted to imitate its star, Jennifer Beals, with her big, curly hair and sporty sartorial sensibility. Valley girls adopted this look—for proof, see another 1983 film, Valley Girl, in which Nicolas Cage woos a blonde valley girl who wears a pink miniskirt and matching leg warmers. Let’s jump forward to today again: Dancewear isn’t making as strong of a comeback as bell-bottoms, but it hasn’t wholly vanished. Leggings— I’ll say it—are here to stay, and anyone who ventures into American Apparel knows the special breed of panic attack that shelf upon shelf of leg warmers can bring on. The trendiest way to pull this off today is to wear leggings, boots, and a sweater or cardigan—toned down from the original, maybe, but comfortable and chic. The 1990s gave us another off-center legwear trend in the form of bib overalls. Overalls were first referred to as “slops� by working men in the

1700s, when they were made from a tough cloth and worn over another pair of pants. Eventually they began to sport pockets and loops for tools, and by the 1850s they were featured in denim. Rosie the Riveter donned the “slops� in the World War II era, but overalls didn’t catch on with the public until the 1990s, when hiphop artists began wearing them with one shoulder unfastened. They were also worn belted, with the front flap folded over at the waist. A few celebrities, like Cameron Diaz, who sported miniskirt overalls in an appearance on MTV’s TRL, won’t let their ’90s duds go. Disregarding the few exceptions, overalls are not back in. This is good news for us— the wind can really whip down that open waist! Now, for the bad news: Trends have a habit of reappearing every 20 years, so expect overalls to pop up more in the near future. What else lies on the horizon? Perhaps ugly sweater parties, now seasonal events, will become a year-round phenomenon, since they offer an outlet for obsessing over oversized, itchy fashion. Having compiled this report, I’ll offer a few questions I think we’d be wise to ask: Which trends of our own will we loathe a decade from now? Which gam garments will we defend to our children (my money’s on you, jeggings), and which styles will they bring back as their own?

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | March 6, 2012

Stifling defense keeps UW–Eau Claire in check

First Prize $1500 Second prize $500

Chicago vs. Calvin Fri. 3/9, 8 p.m.

Chicago defeated Calvin last year in the round of 32, a loss the Knights are sure to remember. The key for Chicago will be containing perhaps the best D-III player in the country, junior forward Carissa Verkai.

St. Thomas vs. Tufts Fri. 3/9, 5:30 p.m.

Chicago vs. St. Thomas Sat. 3/10, 7 p.m.

St. Thomas is a lot like Chicago—they don’t lose. The Tommies have only one loss on the season and have been climbing the national rankings all year, currently sitting #12 in the nation.

Next Weekend Final Four

Favored team in bold

NCAA continued from front

Maggie Ely got Chicago right back in the game, down just two after the 6–0 run. The game then took a familiar turn for Maroon fans as Chicago began to grind UW–Eau Claire down with staunch defense and crisp interior pacing, dragging the shot-blocker Plendl away from the hoop on one side before dishing it across the lane for unguarded lay-ups over shorter defenders. Chicago went into the break with a 10-point advantage, which, given the defense being played on both sides, seemed like a difficult deficit for the Blugolds to make up. The second half began similar to the first, with Chicago playing their usual stifling defense but struggling to score on the other end against an equally suffocating UW–Eau Claire squad. A 9–2 run from the Blugolds, ending five minutes into the second half, brought the lead back to one. Chicago was outscored by a total of 17–4 in the first five minutes of each half. “A lot of games we’ve had slow starts. But we work through things,� Meghan Herrick said. “We go one possession at a time, a score, a stop, a score, a stop. It’s happened before, so I wasn’t too worried.� The game then became very interesting, as the teams traded hard-fought buckets. The referees, as is the tendency in post-season play, swallowed their whistles and allowed the teams to play physical, Midwestern style basketball. On one play midway through the second half, Meghan Herrick, a Wisconsin resident herself, drove hard to the hoop and collided with Plendl, who stands nearly six inches taller. Both were sent flying to the floor. “It hurt,� laughed Herrick after the game. “She’s a big girl; she just happened to get there slow and there was a lot of contact. Luckily, I think my ponytail saved me.� UW–Eau Claire knotted the score at 44 with a jumper from Christianson, and Chicago responded with a lay-up from fourth-year All-American Taylor Simpson and a three-point bomb from fourth-year guard Joann Torres, which sent the crowd to its feet. The cheering was so loud that, at times, it became difficult to hear. “It just made it so much more exciting,� said first-year Hannah Ballard, who did an exceptional job of guarding Plendl on the defensive end when Simpson went to the bench for a breather. “The crowd was here to pick us up. [It] was an awesome experience.�

The Blugolds weren’t done yet. Down five with just three minutes to go, UW–Eau Claire began chipping away at the lead with clutch free throws—two from Christianson and then two from Plendl. Those were only Christianson’s second and third free throws of the entire tournament, and for Plendl, the free throws came on the heels of a 50 percent performance from the line just the day before. Just one possession later, a miscommunication on defense left Plendl open for an easy lay-in, and Chicago found itself in an odd and discomforting spot, down one point with just 1:56 to go. “I was kind of freaking out because with this game, this could be my last,� fourth-year guard Bryanne Halfhill said. “It’s not just any normal loss. And with a minute to go and Plendl had that lay-up, that was kind of an ‘oh shit’ moment. This could be our last game.� The next trip down the floor, Chicago responded, as UAA Most Valuable Player Morgan Herrick sank one of her higharching jumpers over the outstretched hands of Plendl while being fouled. With chants of “MVP!� ringing through Ratner, Morgan Herrick calmly sank the free throw, completing the three-point play and giving Chicago a two-point advantage. Two more free throws, one from each of the Herrick sisters, pushed the lead to four. After a quick bucket from UW–Eau Claire, Chicago inbounded the ball to second-year transfer Julie Muguira, who, by sinking both free throws, pushed the lead to four and put the game virtually out of reach. “You try to not worry about the situation,� Muguira said after the game. “Just like any other day in practice. You have two free throws, you put them in.� The win gives Chicago enormous momentum heading into the game against Calvin on Friday night. On Sunday, Chicago was awarded home court advantage for the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight, another monumental advantage going into the weekend. “The students, the fans that were here, I haven’t had this much fun in this gym in eight years, not even close,� said Roussell. “We said at the beginning of the year that we need to start winning games because of our defense, not because of our talent, and we did that today.�

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THE CHICAGO MAROON | SPORTS | March 6, 2012

Qualifying divers to be announced today

At Last Chance invite, a bittersweet finish Track & Field Jake Walerius Sports Staff

SWIM continued from back

Angeles will also be competing in the 200-meter breaststroke, but at the B-cut level as opposed to the A-cut. The Maroons’ entire 800-meter freestyle relay qualified, including fourth-year Laura Biery, first-year Bizzy Millen, thirdyear Kathleen Taylor, and fourth-year Jacqueline Trudeau. Millen also qualified for the 500-meter freestyle, and Taylor for the 1,650-meter freestyle. Finally, fourthyear Tara Levens qualified for the 100meter backstroke. Qualifying divers will be announced on Tuesday, March 6. A total of 242 female swimmers will be participating at Nationals, and Chicago’s UAA rival Emory is sending 18 of them. A total of 235 male swimmers will be in Indianapolis, with 14 coming from Emory. The seven Maroons who qualified are training relentlessly to be prepared for Nationals, and to hopefully bring a medal back to Hyde Park.

11

The North Central Last Chance was a tale of two chances last Friday: one missed, one taken. The women’s distance medley relay team took its chance in emphatic style, finishing second (11:59.64) at the meet to Wash U and smashing the school record by almost six seconds. The team—made up of fourth-year Jaleesa Akuoko, third-year Kayla McDonald, third-year Julia Sizek and second-year Michaela Whitelaw—is ranked 10th in the country after their run. They will now look ahead to the NCAA D-III Indoor Track & Field Championship, which begins on Friday. “We were running against top teams on Friday which really pushed us to compete well,” Akuoko said of her team’s relay performance. “We made a huge jump in our standings, improving by 30 seconds since UAAs and breaking the standing school record. It’s really cool to be in a nationally ranked relay, especially during my last

indoor season.” While the distance medley team will be the only representative at the NCAA meet for Chicago, they were not the only athletes to finish the indoor season nationally ranked in D-III. Whitelaw finished the season at 43rd place in the mile, first-year Pam Yu sits tied for 37th in the long jump, and the 4x400–meter relay team placed 47th. McDonald also holds the 11th best time in the division in the 800-meter, but has chosen to skip that event at nationals to leave her in better shape for the distance medley relay. As for the men’s team, last Friday was most notable for a missed chance—by an athlete who didn’t run. Third-year Billy Whitmore, the men’s biggest prospect for national qualification, was rested in the hope that it would leave him in a better condition for nationals should he qualify. After this weekend’s racing, however, he has dropped down to 16th in the national rankings and does not currently qualify for the division championship. He could still compete, but that possibility is dependent on other athletes withdrawing. “We rested him so he could be impactful

at the national meet,” head coach Chris Hall said. “It was Billy’s decision and I stood by him on that. He wanted to do more than just be at the national meet, he wanted to make an impact. So I feel good that we took that shot. I’m disappointed that he didn’t make it. Knowing that he didn’t get in, yeah, we would’ve preferred to have run him. But that’s the decision we thought we had to make last week with the information we had.” Despite the disappointment surrounding Whitmore’s missed qualification, Hall was pleased with what he saw from the men who did compete on Friday. “I thought our men’s distance medley relay—and Renat Zalov in particular—ran great,” Hall said. “Avery Mainardi ran an exceptional time as well. Avery unfortunately false started in the conference meet in the 800-meter but the way he ran on Friday, he would’ve scored in the finals.” So that’s that—the 2012 indoor season comes to a close for all but four Maroons. The women’s distance medley relay team now looks forward to the NCAA Championship. For the rest of the squad, it’s time to head outdoors.

McDonald: “I’m very excited to see what we can do on Friday” W. TRACK continued from back

define success or failure. “We’ll be out there running to finish as high as we possibly can. I don’t think it’s realistic for this group to go out there and think, ‘Hey, we’re going to be in the top two, three in the country,’ unless somebody else doesn’t perform really well,” Hall said. “After that, I feel like it’s relatively open, you know, where teams could finish from that point on, but I don’t know if they would be much more excited to be fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh than they would to be eighth.” “I am very excited to see what we can do on Friday,” McDonald said. “We are very pleased with being ranked tenth.” The women’s DMR starts at 7:20 p.m. on the track of the Charles Benson Bear ’30 Recreation and Athletic Center. For the women, it’s time to become AllAmericans, or to return to Chicago with nothing but the experience. “Obviously, they’d prefer to finish higher than eighth,” Hall said, “but I think if they get to that point, it will be a very nice drive home.”

Maroons have two alternates for meet WRESTLING continued from back

matches against his fellow national qualifiers, and Kocher anticipates the tournament having a positive influence on Pennisi looking forward. “I expect this will provide Sam with important experience and heightened selfexpectations for the remainder of his career,” Kocher said. Two Maroons, first-year Mario Palmisano and third-year Francisco Acosta, are alternates at 197 pounds and 141 pounds, respectively, and have an outside shot at getting a last-second invitation to the tournament. For more Maroon Sports coverage, visit www.chicagomaroon.com

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SPORTS

IN QUOTES

“Swear to lil 10 pound bearded baby Jesus I just got peed on by a real ‘Lion’ I’m not lying either.” —Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco on Twitter, referring to his time at a Miami charity event.

Distance medley team advances to National Championship—barely Women’s Track Matthew Schaefer Associate Sports Editor Hello, Iowa. Hello, Nationals. Following their performance in the Last Chance Meet, the women’s distance medley relay team of second-year Michaela Whitelaw, fourth-year Jaleesa Akuoko, third-year Kayla McDonald, and third-year Julia Sizek will travel to Grinnell, Iowa this Friday for the Division III Indoor National Championship. With a time of 11:59.64 at North Central this past weekend, the team has claimed the 10th and final qualifying spot in this weekend’s race, which consists of 1,200–, 400–, 800–, and 1,600meter legs. The relay’s time is less than a second behind ninthseeded St. Thomas (Minn.), a little more than five seconds behind eighth-seeded Amherst, and more than 20 seconds behind top-seeded Middlebury. “I don’t think you ever go into anything saying, ‘Hey, we expect to get into the national meet today,’ but, you know, quite honestly, I’ve felt that we have a team that could qualify, and

I wasn’t surprised. I was happy. You know, things came together,” head coach Chris Hall said. “We put our top four legs on that relay at the same time for the first time this year, and it worked out really well for us.” “We’re delighted. This is the time of year when our teams begin to reap some national success. It’s always good to see swimmers going to nationals, track athletes going to nationals, women’s basketball players being involved in the national tournament,” athletic director Thomas Weingartner said. “It’s a great thing, a culmination of a lot of hard work, and a chance to really prove yourself against the best in the country.” McDonald also qualified for the 800-meter run, but has decided to forego the event. Since the 800-meter prelims take place immediately before the DMR, she wouldn’t have had enough time to recover for the relay. “There are a few other women who pulled out of the 800 for the same reason—the distance medley is right there, and they need to be fresher for that,” Hall said. “We made the decision that we wanted to run our best relay

down there.” He continued, “She’s a team person. But it’s also an individual thing. To go there with three other people, I think, is more special than going out there and doing something strictly on your own. If they walk away from this as All-Americans, you’re going to be really enjoying that with the other people.” The top eight teams in Friday’s relay will be named AllAmericans, and that is the target. “Our goals are going to be to be All-Americans this weekend. The DMRs are so hard to get into—they really are. I feel like you’ve already been through the preliminary rounds,” Hall said. “I think it’s very realistic for us to be in the top eight; I think if we run the way we did this past weekend we’ll be an All-American team. “We have to knock off two teams.” You can’t count on a win. Barring a disaster or a miracle, it’s not going to happen. But that doesn’t mean, say, a fifthplace performance is out of the question. Eighth place isn’t the limit of their ambition, but it is the finish that will, in a sense, W.TRACK continued on page 11

Pennisi to compete alone in NCAAs Wrestling

Seven earn spots in Indianapolis meet Swimming

Derek Tsang Sports Staff This Friday, University of Chicago wrestler Sam Pennisi will make the five-hour trek to La Crosse, Wisconsin to face the best in the nation at the NCAA Division III Championship. Pennisi, a secondyear who wrestles at 184 pounds, booked the Maroons’ only spot at the tournament with a third place finish at the Great Lakes Regional last week. Preparation for the final meet isn’t quite business as usual. Pennisi has been practicing alone with the coaches, intent on peaking for the national competition. “[It’s] different since I’m the only one in the room,” said Pennisi. “It is really helpful to have all that focus on what I’m doing, but it makes for harder practices.” Pennisi (23–12), one of 18 wrestlers in his weight class, has a first round bye before facing sixth seed Michael Reilly (28–3), who is making his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championship, but only his first at 184 pounds. Kocher said that, if they can find any videos of Pennisi’s opponents online, the coaching staff will do their best to scout them. “At this stage of the season,” said Kocher, the focus is less on conditioning. “We just try to prepare for high level matches.” Pennisi’s goal for the tournament is to place in the top-eight and earn an All-American spot. Depending on how the double-elimination bracket plays out, a top eight finish will take

Third-year Kayla McDonald competes in the Margaret Bradley Invite earlier this season at the Henry Crown Field House. DARREN LEOW | THE CHICAGO MAROON

Sarah Langs & Liane Rousseau Sports Staff

Second-year Sam Pennisi wins his match during a wrestling competition against St. Olaf earlier in the season. SYDNEY COMBS | THE CHICAGO MAROON

either two or three victories. “I think Sam is eager to test himself against the best in the nation,” Kocher said. “Sam has been diligent in his preparation and seems ready to the coaching staff.” Pennisi isn’t going to try to add any new flash or gimmick to his wrestling for the national tournament though.

“I’ve just been trying to perfect my current skill set,” he said. “At this point in the season, I’m not as focused on adding new things, but want to make sure I do a few things and do them really well.” Regardless of how he places, Pennisi is guaranteed at least two WRESTLING continued on page 11

The NCAA D-III Men and Women’s Swimming and Diving Committee announced the participants for the 2012 NCAA D-III Championships last Thursday, March 1. Five Maroons on the women’s team and two Maroons on the men’s team secured spots in the national championship meet, which will be held at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis from March 21–24. Qualifying swimmers were chosen based on minimum times set for each event. On the men’s side, first-years Andrew Salomon and Andrew Angeles qualified for the Championship. Angeles qualified in the 100-meter breaststroke and Salomon qualified in the 500meter freestyle. “I am very excited to compete and race some of the best swimmers in the nation,” Angeles said. “It really is an honor to

be just going to the meet and representing UChicago.” Salomon is proud as well. “I feel pretty good about qualifying, as it is extremely difficult to do and I was on the edge in getting in,” he said. In terms of preparation, neither swimmer will be taking any particularly special steps. Instead, they’ll be following the same regimen that the team has been preparing with for the last month or so. “Over the next few weeks, I am getting focused and trying to get some rest,” Angeles said. “I’m trying to get some more intense work in before UAAs,” Salomon said, “but I was sick for a couple of days, which hindered my ability to work hard.” The meet poses a challenge for both swimmers, but they are ready to face the challenge. “NCAAs [are] a serious meet, and there will be very fast swimmers there,” Angeles said. “I’ve swam at YMCA Nationals for several years, but I suspect that is not as big or prestigious as this,” Salomon said. SWIM continued on page 11

CA LEN DA R Friday

3/09

- Women’s Basketball NCAA Sectional Semifinal vs. Calvin

- Women’s Track and Field @ NCAA Championship

- Wrestling @ NCAA Championship All Day

Saturday 3/10 - Wrestling @ NCAA Championship All Day

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